Appeal No. 2000-1971
Application No. 09/002,537
This application is remanded to the examiner for
consideration of the following matter.
The “Background of the Invention” section of appellant’s
specification (pages 1-3) states that trailer hitch housings
“are subjected to many forces which act to deflect and bend
the housings” (specification, page 1), that therefore trailer
hitch housings must be “extremely strong to maintain [their]
integrity as the trailer is being pulled” (specification, page
1), and that, accordingly, trailer hitch housing
conventionally include some sort of bracing (typically,
“internal” bracing or “end-flange” bracing) “to produce
housings capable of withstanding these deflecting and bending
forces” (specification, page 1) encountered during use. Thus,
it is quite clear that it is within the general knowledge of
those versed in the trailer hitch housing art that trailer
hitch housings are conventionally provided with some sort of
reinforcement to improve their strength.
UK Published Patent Application 2 236 514 A to
Winterhoff, attached to appellant’s main brief as Exhibit 4
and discussed on page 14 of the main brief, discloses a
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